Stress reduction may aid weight loss
Overweight women who are trying to lose weight may benefit from reducing their levels of stress, a study in the Journal of Obesity has found.Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco discovered that women who mastered stress reduction and 'mindful eating' techniques managed to avoid weight gain.
Furthermore, those who reported the greatest reductions in stress also tended to lose the most abdominal fat, which is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and type-2 diabetes.
Mindful eating teaches people to be more aware of their eating habits by recognising sensations such as hunger, fullness and taste satisfaction.
Dr Jennifer Daubenmier, from the university's Osher Centre for Integrative Medicine, explained: "You're training the mind to notice, but to not automatically react based on habitual patterns - to not reach for a candy bar in response to feeling anger, for example."
The expert added that by first recognising what they are feeling before they act, people have a "far" greater chance of making a wiser choice and managing to lose weight.
NHS figures suggest that 24 per cent of women and 22 per cent of men in England were obese in 2009, while a further 33 per cent of women and 44 per cent of men were overweight.
